Nearly 15,000 descended Saturday morning on downtown Houston for the city’s March For Our Lives, advocating for greater gun control in light of last month’s Florida school shooting.

A mix of children and adults gathered in Houston’s Tranquility Park for the student-led march, many carrying signs that illustrated their fear of violence and demand for legislative action.

“I didn’t know what to expect here today, but I just expect change in the government,” said Austin Luchak, a ninth-grader at The Woodlands College Park High School who attended the march with his father. “I hope they follow through.”

Hundreds of marches are taking place across the country, largely driven by students who are organizing the events. The rally in Washington included Texans like Kay Hopper, a retiree from Austin who showed up with her daughter, son-in-law and grandchild. “I’m hoping that what starts here will change the world in Texas,” Hopper said.

There was also Melissa Miller, 59, who described herself as a transplanted Democrat from Austin.

“This is momentous,” Miller said, standing on the National Mall surrounded by rally-goers, many of them families with children. “The way it’s captivating the nation should help make the shift to a more rational sense of what the country needs.”

In Houston, organizers expected 10,000 to 20,000 attendees to gather in Tranquility Park and march toward U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz’s office.

“Today, I hope our voices are heard, because we are the ones that go to school,” said Azariah Haro, a junior from Langham Creek High School in Cy-Fair ISD, who traveled to Saturday’s event with three friends. “I really hope we’re able to make a change.”

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Thousands descend on downtown Houston for gun violence march

Media: Karen Warren & Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle

As protesters milled about shortly before the 9 a.m. start, volunteers worked to register young voters inspired into political action. Many brought signs voicing opposition to the National Rifle Association, while others implored replacing legislators who have been more supportive of expanded gun rights.

“The school shooting hit us pretty hard, because all the kids who died there, they all had dreams and aspirations just like us,” said Jaqueline Nava, a senior at Conroe High School.

Several speakers addressed crowds that filled nearly the entire park, including students, Mayor Sylvester Turner and U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee. Turner lauded the student organizers for their efforts, and he called on young people to get involved in politics and ask their parents to back candidates who support more gun control to end violence.

“This is a defining moment for our city, our state and our country,” Turner said.

“You are making a difference,” the mayor told the crowd, especially speaking to the young people. “Make America safe again. Protect our children. End gun violence.”

Humble elementary school student Dezmond Floyd, whose Facebook post about volunteering to take a bullet from a school shooting gunman went viral last month, called on adults to make common-sense changes. Some people even held “Dezmond 2028” signs.

“Please protect me. Protect us,” Dezmond, 10, told thousands. “America, understand that the lives of our students and educators are worth more than our rights to an assault rifle.”

Following a series of speakers, attendees marched a few blocks to Cruz’s offices, chanting for his ouster. The march’s organizers led the way, forming an arm-in-arm chain as thousands followed behind them. While a handful of open-carry counter protestors showed up with long guns, Houston police said the event went off peacefully.

Ariel Hobbs, a march organizer and sophomore at the University of Houston, said she almost began crying as she walked arm-in-arm with Turner and Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo, who estimated the crowd peaked at 15,000.

“It was powerful because I know there are certain parts of the country where they don’t have the support from their mayor or their police department,” Ariel said.

After several minutes in front of Cruz’s office, marchers returned to Tranquility Park to accommodate the large crowd, which wrapped around downtown streets. Organizers originally planned to end the event outside Cruz’s office. At his office, they chanted, “Vote him out” and “Hey hey, ho ho, Ted Cruz has got to go.”

Catherine Frazier, Cruz’s senior communications adviser, said the senator welcomes his constituents' engagement on policy issues and the exercise of their free speech.

“He’s laid out a clear path to combat horrific school shootings by targeting violent criminals, putting more resources into school safety, and directing the Department of Justice to ensure that all federal agencies report convictions to the National Background Check Database,” Frazier said. “He has laid out a specific and thorough approach to solving this problem by updating and reintroducing legislation he originally filed in 2013 with Sen. Chuck Grassley. The only effective way to stop these mass shootings is by targeting those who violate our laws, not by taking away the rights of law-abiding citizens.”

The 2013 legislation seeks to improve compliance with the federal firearm background check system, would increase funding for school safety and create a federal task force to prosecute criminals who attempt to illegally obtain a firearm.

Sisters Rebecca and Torey Irwin, ages 16 and 14, are Atascocita High School students who made the trek downtown for the rally. Rebecca held a sign that asked, “Am I next? #NeverAgain.” Their school just had active-shooter lockdown drills on Friday.

“Small kids who don’t even know what a gun is have to learn to hide from them,” Rebecca said.

The sisters followed a common theme of young people Saturday, saying they were inspired to protest and rally for the first time after being inspired by the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

Jordan Trottie, a senior at James Madison High School, echoed those sentiments. He has immediate family who live in Florida and go to school. He held a sign reading, “Ban the piece. Strive for peace.”

“They are terrified,” Jordan said. “They feel they have to go to school and learn how to survive. And it’s the same here in Houston as everywhere else. We’re tired and fed up of being afraid.”

Fellow Madison High senior Alicia Nay helped organize a group from her school after feeling empowered by the Parkland survivors and thinking she had to step up and fill a void.

“Not doing anything hasn’t helped,” she said. “We figured the people who are supposed to protect us would do that, and they haven’t. The lawmakers are not doing it.”

Alicia argued that politicians from both parties need to come together and create solutions that address gun control measure and mental health problems.

Plenty of parents also participated in the rally with their young children. Nicole Desai and her husband brought their 3-year-old and 18-month-old out to brave the crowds. Desai said there was an unsolved incident with bullet holes found in a wall at their children’s daycare.

“It’s been one shooting after another, and there’s the fear of them not coming home,” she said. “As adults, we get too involved in our own lives, but it’s bigger than us. We need the young people to motivate us.”

Among signs carried at the rally the most popular appeared to be “Never Again” and “Books Not Bullets.”

Others were more creative, reading “The only magazines we need in school are scholarly,” “NRA: Not Representing America,” and “I want to read books! Not eulogies!”

And plenty skewed political, such as, “In America, the only easier thing to buy than a gun is a Republican senator.”

Joe Bontke, who has a long white beard and portrays Santa Claus at Christmas, took out his Santa outfit nine months early for the march. He held a sign saying that Congress and the NRA are on his naughty list. “Our children” represented the nice list.

“We value children every Christmas. Let’s value children all year long,” Bontke said. “They’re learning democracy is not a spectator sport.”